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Marilyn McKee knows how easy it is to end up homeless. And how little it takes to keep a roof over her head.

In her case, $350.

That’s what the Haida jewelry carver received last year from the iRENT Bank, a program run by the non-profit group Network of Inner City Community Services Society (NICCSS), which helps people pay their rents and stay in their homes.

“It was just enough to keep us going,” said McKee at Wednesday’s launch of Vancouver Rent Bank (VRB), a program similar to iRENT but with far more resources available for people facing homelessness.

“It helped provide the basics and that $350 was all that kept me and my son from being homeless.”

McKee, who at one point was homeless for six months, was on hand for the launch of VRB, which will help Vancouver singles, couples and families facing eviction from their homes because they can’t pay the rent apply for a one-time loan.

The program was launched on World Homeless Action Day, part of the seventh annual Homelessness Action Week, which runs from last Sunday to this Saturday.

Finding A Home — an event that shares stories of the homeless and those that help them — was scheduled to be held Wednesday evening in downtown Vancouver, hosted by Reverend Gary Paterson at St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church.

Finding A Home participants included the SFU/Portland Hotel Society Community Choir, Vancouver Design Nerds, Homeless Soccer Club and poet laureate Bud Osborn.

Modelled on similar programs in Ontario, Surrey, Prince George and elsewhere, the VRB is expected to hand out at least 540 interest-free micro-loans to renters.

The city is kicking in a total of $149,000 over the next three years to help administer the program, while the actual loan fund of $150,000 per year is being provided by the Streetohome Foundation, which says there are about 3,700 homeless people in Vancouver.

Additional funding is provided by the Vancouver Foundation.

Program partners are also supporting the initiative through expertise and other services. Vancity is providing micro-loans advice, BC Hydro is pitching in with power smart kits to help reduce energy consumption, and the University of B.C. department of economics is helping with data collection and analysis.

Under the scheme, the average rent loan will be about $835, and renters have between 12 and 24 months to repay it.

VRB managing director Amanda Pollicino said at Wednesday’s launch that the program is off on the right foot and that she expects it will help between 150 and 200 households per year.

She said there have already been 50 inquiries and 11 applications.

Two loans have been issued for a total of $2,575, including one helping a single mother and daughter with a security deposit and first month’s rent.

Two other households were helped through the VRB with their payment process. “Seven people have been saved from homelessness.”

Vancouver city Coun. Kerry Jang said the VRB project has been in people’s minds for a long time, noting that “it actually helps prevent homelessness.”

He said little things, like medication for children, trip up families financially and can put them out of their homes.

“This provides that one-time handout, which they have to pay back, and keeps families together and stable.”

The Vancouver Foundation’s Andria Teather said that in times of financial turmoil, “being able to stay in their homes shouldn’t be one of their challenges.”

Geoff Plant of the Streetohome Foundation added that the program is meant to ensure that “a family has stable housing while they stabilize their lives.”

Kate Hodgson, executive-director of the NICCSS, which will continue its iRENT Bank on a more limited basis, said she hopes the VRB program will be expanded to the provincial level.

To learn how to apply for a loan, contact the VRB at 604-566-9685 or email at vrb@nicccss.ca.

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